KETHIRI SAI REDDY Vs. APOLLO HOSPITALS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE complainant approached the first opposite party hospital, hereinafter called the hospital with a complaint of progressive numbness in left and right upper and lower limbs on 13.12.1997 at 5.00 a.m. Certain tests including nerve conduction study, neck X -ray, complete urine examination, RBG, ECG, CT Scan, etc., were done. The second opposite party, thereinafter called the doctor on perusal of the test reports diagnosed the problem as viral disease i.e., Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS); The complainant was shifted to I.C.U. and started giving Sandoglobulin injections costing around Rs. 1.5 lakhs which course went on for five days. He was shifted to a room from I.C.U. on 18.12.1997 and the complainant was put under physiotherapy for few hours daily. The complainant was complaining of severe pain in the neck and shoulder. However he was discharged on 10.1.1998 and asked to come back for review after one month. The complainant was undergoing physiotherapy as per the instructions of the second opposite party.

(2.) WHEN the complainant visited the hospital on 27.3.1998 the doctor advised him to undergo nerve stimulation study and admitted him in the hospital. He was given six injections of Solumedrol 500 mg. in 3 days and was discharged on 30.3.1998. The complainant consulted the doctor on 8.4.1998 and subsequently on 12.5.1998 for severe neck pain and shoulder pain. He advised the complainant to undergo M.R.I. test at Yashoda Hospital, Rajbhavan Road, Hyderabad and after seeing the M.R.I. report (cervical spine) dated 14.5.1998 he noticed that there is significant compression of the spinal cord by C6 Vertebra. Then he immediately referred the complainant to a Neurosurgeon Dr. S.S.R. Murthy. On perusing the medical reports Dr. Murthy advised him to take a fresh neck X -ray. He advised surgery. Accordingly the complainant was admitted on 16.5.1998 in the hospital. Dr. Murthy and Dr. Jayaramchander Pingle who planned the surgery on 18.5.1998 did not peruse all the reports. The complainant was accordingly taken to the operation theatre at 12.00 noon and after anaesthesia was administered it was noticed that the complainant was having blood sugar. Hence the operation was postponed to 21.5.1998 till B.P. level has come down.

(3.) AFTER the operation on 21.5.1998 the complainant was shifted to AC room where AC was not working. As it was mid -summer the complainant got bed sore on his back which took three months to heal. Of course he was discharged on 29.5.1998 with instructions to undergo physiotherapy for two to three months. Accordingly he underwent therapy in the hospital up to 29.9.1998. Even then the complainant was unable to sit or stand, eat, write or button his shirt. All this is due to the negligence and lack of timely treatment that put him to great mental torture and physical pain due to prolonged treatment. The doctor without properly examining the neck X -ray and history came to the conclusion that it is a case of G.B. Syndrome. Had the doctor asked for M.R.I. it would have revealed compression of the spinal cord.